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Atma-Vichara/Sef-Enquiry
Self-enquiry Disciple: How is one to realise the Self? Maharshi: Whose Self? Find out. D: Mine, but who am I? M: Find out yourself. D: I don’t know how. M: Just think over the question. Who is it that says “I don’t know”? Who is the ‘I’ in your statement? What is not known? D: Somebody or something in me. M: Who is that somebody? In whom? D: Perhaps some power. M: Find out. D: Why was I born? M: Who was born? The answer is the same to all your questions. D: Who am I, then? M: (Smiling.) You have come to examine me? You must say who you are. D: However much I may try, I do not seem to catch the ‘l’. It is not even clearly discernible. Self-Enquiry. M: Who is it that says that the ‘I’ is not discernible? Are there two ‘I’s in you that one is not discernible by the other? D: Instead of enquiring ‘Who am I?’, can I put the question to myself ‘Who are You?’, since then, my mind may be fixed on You whom I consider to be God in the form of Guru. Perhaps, I would be nearer the goal of my quest by that enquiry than by asking myself ‘Who am I?’ M: Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one I, the Self. All these distinctions made between the ‘I’ and ‘you’, Master and disciple etc. are merely a sign of one’s ignorance. The ‘I-Supreme’ alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself. Excerpt from Maharshis's Gospel (Book I, Chapter One, Self Enqquiry) Who Am I? Thoughts alone constitute the mind; and for all thoughts the base or source is the ‘I’ thought. ‘I’ is the mind. If we go inward questing for the source of the ‘I’, the ‘I’ topples down. This is the jnana enquiry. Where the ‘I’ merges, another entity emerges as ‘I-I’ of its own accord. That is the perfect Self. There is no use removing doubts. If we clear one doubt another arises and there will be no end of doubts. All doubts will cease only when the doubter and his source have been found. Seek for the source of the doubter, and you find he is really non-existent. Doubter ceasing, doubts will cease. It is no doubt said in some books that one should go on cultivating one good quality after another and thus prepare for moksha; but for those who follow the jnana or vichara marga, their sadhana is itself quite enough for acquiring all daivic qualities; they need not do anything else. Gems from Bhagavan, Ch. 4 "Who Am I?" Is Not a Mantra In the afternoon there was the following talk with a young sadhu from North India: Sadhu: I want to know who I am. The Arya Samajists say that I am the jivatma and that if I purify the mind and buddhi I can see God. I don’t know what to do. If Bhagavan thinks fit, will Bhagavan please tell me what to do? Bhagavan: You have used a number of terms. What do you mean by jivatma, mind, buddhi and God? And where is God and where are you that you should want to go and see God? Sadhu: I don’t know what all these terms mean. Bhagavan: Then never mind what the Arya Samajists tell you. You don’t know about God and other things, but you do know that you exist. You can have no doubt about that. So find out who you are. Sadhu: That is what I want to know. How can I find out? Bhagavan: Keep all other thoughts away and try to find out in what place in your body the ‘I’ arises. Sadhu: But I am unable to think about this. Bhagavan: Why? If you can think about other things you can think about ‘I’ and where in your body it arises. If you mean that other thoughts distract you, the only way is to draw your mind back each time it strays and fix it on the ‘I’. As each thought arises, ask yourself: “To whom is this thought?” The answer will be, “to me”; then hold on to that “me”. Sadhu: Am I to keep on repeating “Who am I?” so as to make a mantra of it? Bhagavan: No. ‘Who am I?’ is not a mantra. It means that you must find out where in you arises the I-thought which is the source of all other thoughts. But if you find this vichara marga too hard for you, you can go on repeating “I, I” and that will lead you to the same goal. There is no harm in using ‘I’ as a mantra. It is the first name of God. God is everywhere, but it is difficult to conceive Him in that aspect, so the books have said, “God is everywhere. He is also within you. You are Brahman.” So remind yourself: “I am Brahman”. The repetition of ‘I’ will eventually lead you to realise “I am Brahman”. Excerpt from Day by Day with Bhagavan (8-5-46) The Value of Vichara Visitor: As far as I can see it, it is impossible to realise the Self until one has completely succeeded in preventing the rushing thoughts. Am I right? Bhagavan: Not exactly. You do not need to prevent other thoughts. In deep sleep you are entirely free from thoughts, because the ‘I’-thought is absent. The moment the ‘I’-thought rises on waking, all other thoughts rush out spontaneously. The wisest thing for one to do is therefore to catch hold of this leading thought, the ‘I’-thought, and dissect it – who and what it is – giving thereby no chance to other thoughts to distract one. There lies the true value of the vichara and its efficacy in mind control. Guru Ramana (p. 74)